Caregiving

Over the weekend Seth and I offered to watch Kate and Adah so Mark and Gina could go see the special exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was the last day of the very remarkable and well received collection of works entitled Titian Tintoretto and Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice. We took the long trip downtown ourselves a few weeks ago and spent hours soaking it up and wanted Gina and Mark to catch it, too.

It was our first time watching the girls during the day--we had watched them a couple times in the evening, which basically consisted of having dinner with them then putting them to bed. This time, not long after Mark and Gina left, we tried to put Kate down for a nap only to find she had made herself a very dirty diaper. It must be admitted that neither Seth nor I had ever changed a diaper before. In a panic, I voted to ignore it in the hope Kate would change it herself. Seth was more level-headed and said it must be changed, and that since I was a girl I should be the one to do it. If it were a boy, he said, then he would do it. I pulled the 'she is your relative' card. We quickly agreed to do it together. With cell phone in hand in case we needed to call Seth's mother for help, and with some direction from Kate (who just turned two and could communicate with gestures and little noises) we were able to change the diaper. It took two attempts; the first diaper I accidentally pulled off the little Velcro tab thinking it was a different type of adhesive, so we had to try again. We were not sure of the proper way to dispose of the messy diaper, or what to do with the piece of cloth on the changing table (does that get washed?), but we were able to power through that difficult and nervous experience.

When we got home late that evening I realised Fishy hadn't been fed all day and his water was too warm (we have been hit hard by the August heat and there is no AC in the kitchen). The poor guy was sluggish and lethargic and refused to eat. We cooled the water a little and after about 30min of watching him he finally snapped out of it. I felt so horrible and neglegant! We decided to move him into the bedroom, which is the only room with a window AC unit, so we don't have to worry about him overheating (even though he is a tropical fish). Unfortunately, now he seems far away and I miss having breakfast and dinner with him :o(

The volunteering at the lab is going well. They had a big shipment of 49 gerbils arrive last week so I got to sort them, play with them a little, and give them their special diets of fat and oil blends. They are so cute and much nicer than the rats. There is an extra gerbil in the batch and I wouldn't mind sneaking off with him until he is needed later ;o)

The prospect of being paid by the lab is looking slim. It may be a good thing--I won't feel obligated to be there too many hours out of the week and I can have time to audit an extra class or two. I already ordered a book for the Beginning Italian class I will sit in on. I am so excited about this class! I am worried, however, that it may end up like my Latin and Spanish experiences... which were not good and did not result in me learning Latin or Spanish. In addition to Italian I am also thinking about taking Environmental Law and Policy to see if that is a field I might be interested in going into. Policy is messy and seems unpleasant, but it could be something I enjoy and it is probably the best way to make a difference in something that I feel is imporant. I wouldn't know unless I give it a try.